Audio Addict Legends

“Who run the world? Girls!” You may have heard Beyoncé’s statement lyric soundtracking your grocery shop in your local supermarket, pulsating out of a teenager’s car as they whizz past or blurting out of every radio station.  Do girls run the world?

In today’s music industry, Beyoncé became the first woman to have her first five albums reach number one in the Billboard charts; she broke the iTunes record when her self-titled album sold over 800,000 copies in three days and she manages her own empire. Does this put her in the league of legends?

 

The music world is awash with male legends. From The Beatles to Hendrix to Elvis to The Sex Pistols, each is hailed for their talent, their innovation and their larger-than-life personalities. Where, though, are the female legends, the women who cultivate their own image, who subvert the ideals of how women are expected to act, look and sound?

 

Writer at The Independent Fiona Sturges believes that the “media perpetuates certain ideals of women,” these ideals of image and performance mediated to the audience in the form of sex appeal. “The mainstream press, the newspapers that more people buy, are obsessed with the gossip, their love lives or what she is wearing today. How they got into the limelight, which is hopefully through talent, is secondary to these other elements.”

 

Country singer turned pop queen Taylor Swift peaked at number one in the UK Charts with her recent album 1989. A certain song about a curly haired One Direction member makes an appearance and she also alludes to the “long list of ex-lovers” that will tell you she’s insane. For Swift, heartbreak creates hits, so why not write about it? For the media, heartbreak creates a gossip-rag staple.

 

With headlines such “Taylor Swift's Boyfriend's List: 10 Guys The Singer Has Dated” and “Newly-single Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran getting 'increasingly close’”, the musical credibility of the female star is ignored and instead her private life is put into the spotlight. What’s missing is the gutsy side of Swift. At just 25 years old, has anyone else taken on the major corporation of Spotify, demanding to have her entire back catalogue removed from the semi-free streaming service, and won? That is legend status worthy.

 

Yet, it may be that, for women, the legend status might not hold any importance to them. Music is their life, placing their passion out into the public for the fans to enjoy. Walking onstage night after night to the appreciation of all those in attendance may outweigh the feeling of being called a legend.

 

For punk rocker Viv Albertine, the status of legend is unnatural: “People calling me a legend is ridiculous, if you cut me do I not bleed?” Guitarist for the all-female punk band The Silts, Albertine views herself as a regular person, undertaking the mundane tasks of everyday life, a far shout from her touring days after the band disbanded in 1982. “I thought, legend? Fuck off, I’ve been pushing a broom around my kitchen for the last 10 years.”

 

After a 27 year break from music, the guitarist faced criticism when picking up the instrument once again: “what the fuck are you doing? You can’t sing, you can’t play, you’re too fucking old, you’ll make a fool of yourself. It was all the stuff I had heard in The Slits.”

 

Yet, the musician’s passion did not fade. Her creative flair causes her to reminisce on her successful career, “I had made an album which, 35 years later, is still top 50 albums of all time across the world.”

 

While Albertine may not view herself as a legend, The Silts became a defining force in the acceptance of women in the punk scene. Formed in the punk glory days, The Silts injected their rebellious streak into the scene with their resistance to the norm placing them at the forefront alongside punk titans The Sex Pistols. Initiating the acceptance of women in the genre of rock, Albertine can be rightfully termed a legend in her own right.

 

As for Madonna, this female star paved the way for the expression of female sexuality in the music industry. With many media outlets focusing on women’s image in the form of sex objects, Madonna subverts the conventional appearance of women, wearing certain clothes to express her sexuality, inspiring a new confidence in women. Sturges highlights “In the case of Madonna, invention is to do with sexuality. It’s not just a woman getting naked on stage, her performance is underpinned by ideas.”

 

Innovation and inspiration is what connects these women together. While many may not set out to become legends, their passion for art and talent in music and resistance to being controlled and moulded into an industry model is what places these female artists as legends in the music canon.

 

Niamh Moore